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Mithridates VI Eupator

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"Mithridates the Great" redirects here. For the Parthian king who reigned from 165 BC to 132 BC, seeMithridates I of Parthia.For the Parthian king who reigned from 124 to 91 BC, seeMithridates II of Parthia.For other uses of the name, seeMithridates.
Mithridates VI
King of Pontus[1]
Coin of Mithridates
Coin of Mithridates
King of Pontus
Reign120–63 BC
PredecessorMithridates V Euergetes
SuccessorPharnaces II of Pontus
Born135 BC
Sinope,Kingdom of Pontus
(modern-daySinop,Turkey)
Died63 BC (aged 71–72)
Panticapaeum,Kingdom of Pontus
(modern-dayKerch,Crimea)
Burial
either Sinope orAmaseia,Kingdom of Pontus
(modern-day Sinop orAmasya,Turkey)
Spouse
Issue
Detail
Names
Mithradates Eupator Dionysus
DynastyMithridatic
FatherMithridates V Euergetes
MotherLaodice VI

MithridatesorMithradates VI Eupator(Greek:Μιθριδάτης;[2]135–63 BC) was the ruler of theKingdom of Pontusin northernAnatoliafrom 120 to 63 BC, and one of theRoman Republic's most formidable and determined opponents. He was an effective, ambitious and ruthless ruler who sought to dominateAsia Minorand theBlack Searegion, waging several hard-fought but ultimately unsuccessful wars (theMithridatic Wars) to break Roman dominion overAsiaand theHellenic world.[3]He has been called the greatest ruler of the Kingdom of Pontus.[4]Hecultivated an immunity to poisonsby regularly ingesting sub-lethal doses; this practice, now calledmithridatism,is named after him. After his death, he became known asMithridates the Great.

Biography[edit]

Name and ancestry[edit]

Map of the Kingdom of Pontus
Before the reign of Mithridates VI
After his early conquests
After his conquests in the First Mithridatic War
Including Pontus' ally the Kingdom of Armenia

Mithridatesis theGreekattestation of theIranicnameMihrdāt,meaning "given byMithra",the name of the ancient Iranian sun god.[5]The name itself is derived fromOld IranianMiθra-dāta-.[6]Theepithet"eupator"means" of a well (noble) father ", and was adopted by a number of otherHellenisticrulers as well.[7]

Mithridates Eupator Dionysus (Greek:ΜιθριδάτηςΕὐπάτωρΔῐόνῡσος) was a prince of mixedIranicandGreekancestry. He claimed descent fromCyrus the Great,the family ofDarius the Great,theRegentAntipater,the generals ofAlexander the Great,as well as the later kingsAntigonus I MonophthalmusandSeleucus I Nicator.[8]

Early life[edit]

Mithridates was born in thePonticcity ofSinope,[9]on the Black Sea coast of Anatolia, and was raised in theKingdom of Pontus.He was the first son among the children born toLaodice VIandMithridates V Euergetes(reigned 150–120 BC). His father, Mithridates V, was a prince and the son of the former Pontic monarchsPharnaces I of Pontusand his cousin-wifeNysa.His mother, Laodice VI, was a Seleucid princess and the daughter of the Seleucid monarchsAntiochus IV Epiphanesand his sister-wifeLaodice IV.[citation needed]

Mithridates V was assassinated in about 120 BC in Sinope, poisoned by unknown persons at a lavish banquet which he held.[10]He left the kingdom to the joint rule of his widow Laodice VI, and their elder son Mithridates VI, and younger sonMithridates Chrestus.Neither Mithridates VI nor his younger brother were of age, and their mother retained all power asregentfor the time being.[11]Laodice VI's regency over Pontus was from 120 BC to 116 BC (even perhaps up to 113 BC) and favored Mithridates Chrestus over Mithridates. During his mother's regency, Mithridates escaped from his mother's plots against him and went into hiding.[citation needed]

Mithridates emerged from hiding and returned to Pontus between 116 and 113 BC and was hailed as king. By this time he had grown to become a man of considerable stature and physical strength.[12]He could combine extraordinary energy and determination with a considerable talent for politics, organization and strategy.[12]Mithridates removed his mother and brother from the throne, imprisoning both, becoming the sole ruler of Pontus.[13]Laodice VI died in prison, ostensibly of natural causes. Mithridates Chrestus may have died in prison also, or may have been tried for treason and executed.[13]Mithridates gave both royal funerals.[14]Mithridates took his younger sisterLaodice,aged 16, as his first wife.[15]His goals in doing so were to preserve the purity of their bloodline, to solidify his claim to the throne, to co-rule over Pontus, and to ensure the succession to his legitimate children.[citation needed]

Early reign[edit]

Mithridates entertained ambitions of making his state the dominant power on theBlack Seaand inAnatolia.He first subjugatedColchis,a region east of the Black Sea occupied by present-dayGeorgia,and prior to 164 BC, an independent kingdom. He then clashed for supremacy on thePontic steppewith theScythiankingPalacus.The most important centres ofCrimea,Tauric Chersonesusand theBosporan Kingdomreadily surrendered their independence in return for Mithridates' promises to protect them against the Scythians, their ancient enemies.[12]After several abortive attempts to invade the Crimea, the Scythians and the alliedRhoxolanoisuffered heavy losses at the hands of the Pontic generalDiophantusand accepted Mithridates as their overlord.[citation needed]

The young king then turned his attention to Anatolia, whereRomanpower was on the rise. He contrived to partitionPaphlagoniaandGalatiawith KingNicomedes III of Bithynia.It was probably on the occasion of the Paphlagonian invasion of 108 BC that Mithridates adopted theBithynian erafor use on his coins in honour of the alliance. This calendar era began with the first Bithynian kingZipoites Iin 297 BC. It was certainly in use in Pontus by 96 BC at the latest.[16]

Yet it soon became clear to Mithridates that Nicomedes was steering his country into an anti-Pontic alliance with the expanding Roman Republic. When Mithridates fell out with Nicomedes over control ofCappadocia,and defeated him in a series of battles, the latter was constrained to openly enlist the assistance of Rome. The Romans twice interfered in the conflict on behalf of Nicomedes (95–92 BC), leaving Mithridates, should he wish to continue the expansion of his kingdom, with little choice other than to engage in a future Roman-Pontic war. By this time Mithridates had resolved to expel the Romans from Asia.[12]

Mithridatic Wars[edit]

First Mithridatic War, 87–86 BC

The next ruler ofBithynia,Nicomedes IV of Bithynia,was afigureheadmanipulated by the Romans. Mithridates plotted to overthrow him, but his attempts failed and Nicomedes IV, instigated by his Roman advisors, declared war on Pontus. Rome itself was at the time involved in theSocial War,a civil war with its Italian allies; as a result, there were only twolegionspresent in all of Roman Asia, both in Macedonia. These legions combined with Nicomedes IV's army to invade Mithridates' Kingdom of Pontus in 89 BC. Mithridates won a decisive victory, scattering the Roman-led forces. His victorious forces were welcomed throughout Anatolia. The following year, 88 BC, Mithridates orchestrated a massacre of Roman andItaliansettlers remaining in several major Anatolian cities, includingPergamonandTralles,essentially wiping out the Roman presence in the region. As many as 80,000 people are said to have perished in the massacre.[12]The episode is known as theAsiatic Vespers.[17]

The Kingdom of Pontus comprised a mixed population in itsIonian Greekand Anatolian cities. The royal family moved the capital fromAmasiato the Greek city of Sinope. Its rulers tried to fully assimilate the potential of their subjects by showing a Greek face to the Greek world and an Iranian/Anatolian face to the Eastern world. Whenever the gap between the rulers and their Anatolian subjects became greater, they would put emphasis on their Persian origins. In this manner, the royal propaganda claimed heritage both from Persian and Greek rulers, includingCyrus the Great,Darius I of Persia,Alexander the Great,andSeleucus I Nicator.[18]Mithridates too posed as a champion ofHellenism,but this was mainly to further his political ambitions; it is no proof that he felt a mission to promote its extension within his domains.[12]Whatever his true intentions, the Greek cities (includingAthens) defected to the side of Mithridates and welcomed his armies in mainland Greece, while his fleet besieged the Romans atRhodes.His neighbor to the southeast, the King of ArmeniaTigranes the Great,established an alliance with Mithridates and married one of Mithridates' daughters,Cleopatra of Pontus.The two rulers would continue to support each other in the coming conflict with Rome.[19]

Roman coin of 54 BC, depictingSulla.

The Romans responded to the massacre of 88 BC by organising a large invasion force to defeat Mithridates and remove him from power. TheFirst Mithridatic War,fought between 88 and 84 BC, sawLucius Cornelius Sullaforce Mithridates out of Greece proper. After achieving victory in several battles, Sulla received news of trouble back in Rome posed by his rivalGaius Mariusand hurriedly concluded peace talks with Mithridates. As Sulla returned to Italy,Lucius Licinius Murenawas left in charge of Roman forces in Anatolia. The lenient peace treaty, which was never ratified by the Senate, allowed Mithridates VI to restore his forces. Murena attacked Mithridates in 83 BC, provoking theSecond Mithridatic Warfrom 83 to 81 BC. Mithridates defeated Murena's two green legions at theBattle of Halysin 82 BC before peace was again declared by treaty.[citation needed]

When Rome attempted to annex Bithynia (bequested to Rome by its last king) nearly a decade later, Mithridates attacked with an even larger army, leading to theThird Mithridatic Warfrom 73 BC to 63 BC.Luculluswas sent against Mithridates and the Romans routed the Pontic forces at theBattle of Cabirain 72 BC, driving Mithridates into exile in Tigranes' Armenia. While Lucullus was preoccupied fighting the Armenians, Mithridates surged back to retake Pontus by crushing four Roman legions under Valerius Triarius and killing 7,000 Roman soldiers at theBattle of Zelain 67 BC. He was routed byPompey's legions at theBattle of the Lycusin 66 BC.

After this defeat, Mithridates fled with a small army to Colchis and then over the Caucasus Mountains toCrimeaand made plans to raise yet another army to take on the Romans. His eldest living son,Machares,viceroy of Cimmerian Bosporus, was unwilling to aid his father. Mithridates had Machares killed, and Mithridates took the throne of theBosporan Kingdom.He then ordered conscription and preparations for war. In 63 BC, another of his sons,Pharnaces II of Pontus,led a rebellion against his father, joined by Roman exiles in the core of Mithridates' Pontic army. Mithridates withdrew to the citadel inPanticapaeum,where he committed suicide. Pompey buried Mithridates in the rock-cut tombs of his ancestors in Amasia, the old capital of Pontus.[citation needed]

Death[edit]

After Pompey defeated him in Pontus, Mithridates VI fled to the lands north of the Black Sea in the winter of 66 BC in the hope that he could raise a new army and carry on the war through invading Italy by way of the Danube.[12]His preparations proved to be too harsh on the local nobles and populace, and they rebelled against his rule. He reportedly attempted suicide by poison, which failed because of his immunity to the substance.[20]According toAppian'sRoman History,he then requested hisGallicbodyguard and friend, Bituitus, to kill him by the sword:

Mithridates then took out some poison that he always carried next to his sword, and mixed it. There two of his daughters, who were still girls growing up together, named Mithridates and Nysa, who had been betrothed to the kings of [Ptolemaic] Egypt and of Cyprus, asked him to let them have some of the poison first, and insisted strenuously and prevented him from drinking it until they had taken some and swallowed it. The drug took effect on them at once; but upon Mithridates, although he walked around rapidly to hasten its action, it had no effect, because he had accustomed himself to other drugs by continually trying them as a means of protection against poisoners. These are still called the Mithridatic drugs. Seeing a certain Bituitus there, an officer of the Gauls, he said to him, "I have profited much from your right arm against my enemies. I shall profit from it most of all if you will kill me, and save from the danger of being led in aRoman triumphone who has been an autocrat so many years, and the ruler of so great a kingdom, but who is now unable to die by poison because, like a fool, he has fortified himself against the poison of others. Although I have kept watch and ward against all the poisons that one takes with his food, I have not provided against that domestic poison, always the most dangerous to kings, the treachery of army, children, and friends. "Bituitus, thus appealed to, rendered the king the service that he desired.[21]

Cassius Dio'sRoman Historyrecords a different account:

Mithridates had tried to make away with himself, and after first removing his wives and remaining children by poison, he had swallowed all that was left; yet neither by that means nor by the sword was he able to perish by his own hands. For the poison, although deadly, did not prevail over him, since he had inured his constitution to it, taking precautionary antidotes in large doses every day; and the force of the sword blow was lessened on account of the weakness of his hand, caused by his age and present misfortunes, and as a result of taking the poison, whatever it was. When, therefore, he failed to take his life through his own efforts and seemed to linger beyond the proper time, those whom he had sent against his son fell upon him and hastened his end with their swords and spears. Thus Mithridates, who had experienced the most varied and remarkable fortune, had not even an ordinary end to his life. For he desired to die, albeit unwillingly, and though eager to kill himself was unable to do so; but partly by poison and partly by the sword he was at once self-slain and murdered by his foes.[22]

At the behest of Pompey, Mithridates' body was later buried alongside his ancestors (in either Sinope orAmaseia).[23]Mount Mithridatin the centralKerchand the town ofYevpatoriain Crimea commemorate his name.[citation needed]

Rulership[edit]

Portrait of Mithridates asHeracles,Roman Imperial period.

Where his ancestors pursuedphilhellenismas a means of attaining respectability and prestige among the Hellenistic kingdoms, Mithridates VI made use of Hellenism as a political tool.[12]Greeks, Romans and Asians were welcome at his court.[12]As protector of Greek cities on the Black Sea and in Asia against barbarism, Mithridates VI logically became protector of Greece and Greek culture, and used this stance in his clashes with Rome.[24]Strabo mentions that Chersonesus buckled under the pressure of the barbarians and asked Mithridates VI to become its protector (7.4.3. c.308). The most impressive symbol of Mithridates VI's approbation with Greece (Athens in particular) appears atDelos:aheroondedicated to the Pontic king in 102/1 BC by the Athenian Helianax, a priest of Poseidon Aisios.[25]A dedication atDelos,by Dicaeus, a priest ofSarapis,was made in 94/93 BC on behalf of the Athenians, Romans, and "King Mithridates Eupator Dionysus".[26]Greek styles mixed with Persian elements also abound on officialPontic coins–Perseuswas favored as an intermediary between both worlds, East and West.[27]

Certainly influenced byAlexander the Great,Mithridates VI extended his propaganda from "defender" of Greece to the "great liberator" of the Greek world as war with theRoman Republicbecame inevitable. The Romans were easily translated into "barbarians", in the same sense as thePersian Empireduring thewar with Persiain the first half of the 5th century BC and during Alexander's campaign. How many Greeks genuinely agreed with this claim will never be known. It served its purpose; at least partially because of it, Mithridates VI was able to fight theFirst War with Romeon Greek soil, and maintain the allegiance of Greece.[28]His campaign for the allegiance of the Greeks was aided in no small part by his enemy Sulla, who allowed his troops tosack the city of Delphiand plunder many of the city's most famous treasures to help finance his military expenses.[citation needed]

Personal life[edit]

Immunity to poison[edit]

Main articles:Mithridate,Mithridatism,andTheriac
De Medicina

In his youth, after the assassination of his father Mithridates V in120 BC,Mithridates is said to have lived in the wilderness for seven years, inuring himself to hardship. While there and after his accession, he cultivated an immunity to poisons by regularly ingesting sub-lethal doses of poisons, particularly thearsenic[29]that killed his fatherMithridates V.[30]This form ofhormesisis effective against some but not all toxins and subsequently became known asMithridatismor Mithridatization. After he became king of Pontus, Mithridates continued to study poisons and develop antidotes, whose initial efficacies were tested on Pontic criminalscondemned to death.Attalus IIIofPergamon(d. 133 BC) is also known to have studied poisons and antidotes in this way.[31]In keeping with most medical practices of his era, Mithridates' antitoxin routines included a religious component; they were supervised by theAgari,a group of Scythianshamanswho never left him. (He was also reportedly guarded in his sleep by a horse, a bull, and a stag, which would whinny, bellow, and bleat whenever anyone approached the royal bed.)[32]TheGreek doctorCrateuas the Rootcuttermay have worked directly under Mithridates or may have only been in correspondence with him.[33]Mithridates was also said to have received samples includingmegaliumandkyphi[34]fromZopyrus of Alexandria[35]and treatises fromAsclepiadesin lieu of a requested visit.[36]By the time of his death in63 BC,Mithridates was reported to have developed a complex "universal antidote" against poisoning, which he took every day with coldspring water[29]and which became known asmithridateor mithridatium. He was said to consume it daily. The original formula has been entirely lost,[37]althoughPlinyreports that Mithridates' various antidotes usually included thebloodofPontic ducks(possiblyruddy shelducks), which fed on poisonous plants[36]likehellebore[38]andhemlock[39]and thus provided a kind ofserumagainst them. Elsewhere, Pliny reports that surviving notes of Mithridates' work did not include exotic ingredients[40]and that Pompey found an antidote recipe among Mithridates' notes that consisted of 2 driedwalnuts,2figs,and 20rueleaves, which were supposed to be crushed together and taken with a pinch of salt by a person who hadfastedfor at least one day.[41]

ThelegionsunderPompeywho had defeated Mithridates killed his secretary Callistratus and burnt some of his papers,[42]but were also reported to have taken an extensive medicinal library and collection of specimens back toRome,where Pompey's slaveLenaeustranslated them intoLatin[36][35]and theRoman doctorslikeA. Cornelius Celsusbeganprescribingvarious recipes under the name of Mithridates' antidote (Latin:antidotum Mithridaticum). Numerous recipes survive from the1st century,[37][43][44][45]all consisting of apolypharmiceuticalelectuaryincludingcastorfromwillow-consumingbeavers[38]andopiumsweetened withhoney—Pontic honey tending to contain mild amounts of poison from local plants likerhododendronandoleander[38]—but otherwise all differing in both ingredients and amounts.[46]It seems likely Pompey and Lenaeus kept Mithridates' personal recipe secret, leading to various attempts to recreate it after their deaths.[47]A foreign father and son both named Paccius seem to have become rich selling their own secret recipe underTiberius.[48]Around the same time, Celsus advocated taking an almond-sized amount of hisginger-heavy preparation daily withwine.[34]Andromachus the Elder,Nero's court physician, developedtheriac(theriaca Andromachi) by supplementing the versions of Mithridates' formula known in his day with moreopium,poppy seeds,[48]and ahomeopathicaddition ofviper flesh.[37]One of the vats uncovered atPompeiiseems to have been used to create this version of Mithridates' antidote.[48]Galenadded still more opium[49]and askinkin his version of the recipe.[50]Of the plants shared across these early forms of mithridate, many seem to be strongly odoriferous[34]or to exhibitantibacterial[51]andanti-inflammatoryabilities;[34]it is also noteworthy that bioactive alkaloids[34]and poisons arenotwidely represented.[40]

Mithridate and theriac continued to be staples ofWesternandIslamic medicineinto the 19th century,[37]consumed byCaesar[48]and emperors, kings, and queens includingMarcus Aurelius,[50]Septimus Severus,[52]Alfred the Great,[53]Charlemagne,[49]Henry VIII,[49]andQueen Elizabeth.[49]Some medieval preparations had as many as 184 ingredients.[49]Owing to the idea that disease could be caused by "internal poisons", the antidotes also came to be thought of aspanaceasable to cure damage from falls, some illnesses, or even all illnesses.[34]When it failed, the problem was believed to be improper preparation or storage, leading some jurisdictions to legally require its preparation in full view of the public in city squares.[54]Concerns about mithridate's purity and later inefficacy were closely involved with the development of medical and pharmaceutical regulation.[54]Mithridate remains available from some doctors, particularly in theMiddle East.[37]As early asPliny,however, some considered itquackery[55]and its various components and proportionspseudoscientific.[56]Chinese doctorsreceived samples of mithridate from Muslim ambassadors in theTang dynasty[49]but never popularized or advocated it. The Islamic scientistAverroes,meanwhile, believed it may be helpful in some cases but cautioned against regular consumption by the healthy as it "could actually transform human nature into a kind of poison".[49]It notably failed as a cure toplagueandepilepsy,[34]andWilliam Heberden's 1745Antitheriaca(Greek:Αντιθηριακα,Antithēriaka) helped fully discredit it inEngland.[54]By the 19th century, it was only being prescribed fordyspepsiaor described as of historical interest only.[34]

Polyglot[edit]

InPliny the Elder's account of famouspolyglots,Mithridates couldspeak the languages of allthe twenty-two nations he governed.[57]This reputation led to the use of Mithridates' name as title in some later works on comparative linguistics, such asConrad Gessner'sMithridates de differentiis linguarum(1555), and Adelung and Vater'sMithridates oder allgemeine Sprachenkunde(1806–1817).[58]

Family[edit]

Mithridates VI had a number of wives and mistresses, by whom he had several children. The names he gave his children are a representation of hisIranicand Greek heritage and ancestry.[citation needed]

His first wife washis sister Laodice.They were married from 115/113 BC until about 90 BC. They had several children. Their sons wereMithridates,Arcathius,MacharesandPharnaces II of Pontus. Their daughters wereCleopatra of Pontus(sometimes called Cleopatra the Elder to distinguish her from her sister of the same name) andDrypetina(a diminutive form of "Drypetis"). Drypetina was Mithridates VI's most devoted daughter. Her baby teeth never fell out, so she had adouble set of teeth.[17]

His second wife was a Greek Macedonian noblewoman,Monime.They were married from about 89/88 BC until 72/71 BC and had a daughter,Athenais,who married KingAriobarzanes II of Cappadocia.His next two wives were also Greek: he was married to his third wifeBerenice of Chios,from 86 to 72/71 BC, and to his fourth wifeStratonice of Pontus,from sometime after 86 to 63 BC. Stratonice bore Mithridates a sonXiphares.His fifth wife is unknown. His sixth wife was Hypsicratea.

One of his mistresses was the Galatian Celtic princessAdobogiona the Elder.By Adobogiona, Mithridates had two children: a son calledMithridates I of the Bosporusand a daughter calledAdobogiona the Younger.[citation needed]

His sons born from his concubines were Cyrus, Xerxes, Darius,Ariarathes IX of Cappadocia,Artaphernes, Oxathres, Phoenix (Mithridates' son by a mistress of Syrian descent), and Exipodras, named after kings of thePersian Empire,which he claimed ancestry from. His daughters born from his concubines were Nysa, Eupatra, Cleopatra the Younger, Mithridatis andOrsabaris.Nysa and Mithridatis, were engaged to theEgyptian Greek PharaohsPtolemy XII Auletesand his brotherPtolemy of Cyprus.[citation needed]

In 63 BC, when the Kingdom of Pontus was annexed by the Roman general Pompey, the remaining sisters, wives, mistresses and children of Mithridates VI in Pontus were put to death. Plutarch, writing in hisLives,states that Mithridates' sister and five of his children took part in Pompey's triumphal procession on his return to Rome in 61 BC.[59]

TheCappadocianGreek nobleman and high priest of the temple-state ofComana, Cappadocia,Archelauswas descended from Mithridates VI.[60]He claimed to be a son of Mithridates VI;[61]but the chronology suggests that Archelaus may actually have been a maternal grandson of the Pontic king, and the son of Mithridates VI's favourite general, who may have married one of the daughters of Mithridates VI.[62]

Cultural depictions[edit]

Sometimes, more sternly moved, I would relate
How vanquished Mithridates northward passed,
And, hidden in the cloud of years, became
Odin, the Father of a race by whom

Perished the Roman Empire.

There was a king reigned in the East:
There, when kings will sit to feast,
They get their fill before they think
With poisoned meat and poisoned drink.
He gathered all that springs to birth
From the many-venomed earth;
First a little, thence to more,
He sampled all her killing store;
And easy, smiling, seasoned sound,
Sate the king when healths went round.
They putarsenicin his meat
And stared aghast to watch him eat;
They pouredstrychninein his cup
And shook to see him drink it up:
They shook, they stared as white's their shirt:
Them it was their poison hurt.
–I tell the tale that I heard told.

Mithridates, he died old.

  • Dorothy L. Sayers'detective novelStrong Poison,from 1929, has the protagonist,Lord Peter Wimsey,solve a case of murder byarsenicpoisoning, and quotes the last line from Housman's poem.
  • InThe Grass Crown,the second in theMasters of Romeseries,Colleen McCulloughdescribes in detail the various aspects of his life – the murder ofLaodice,and the Roman Consul who, quite alone and surrounded by the Pontic army, ordered Mithridates to leave Cappadocia immediately and go back to Pontus – which he did.
  • The Last Kingis ahistorical novelbyMichael Curtis Fordabout the King and his exploits against the Roman Republic.
  • Mithridates is a major character inPoul Anderson's novelThe Golden Slave.
  • In the novelMithridates is Dead(Spanish:Mitrídates ha muerto),[63]Ignasi Ribótraces parallels between the historical figures of Mithridates andOsama bin Laden.Within a postmodern narrative of the making and unmaking of history, Ribó suggests that theSeptember 11 attackson the United States closely paralleled the massacre of Roman citizens in 88 B.C. and prompted similar consequences, namely the imperialist overstretch of the American and Roman republics respectively. Furthermore, he suggests that the ensuingMithridatic Warswere one of the key factors in the demise of Rome's republican regime, as well as in the spread of the Christian faith in Asia Minor and eventually throughout the whole Roman Empire. The novel implies that the current events in the world might have similarunforeseen consequences.
  • InThe King's Gambit,the first volume of theSPQR seriesbyJohn Maddox Roberts,the protagonist, Decius Metellus, becomes aware of a plot betweenPompeyandCrassusto relieve Lucullus of command and allow Pompey to lead the final campaign against Mithradates. At the time of this novel, Decius reflects that Mithradates has successfully resisted Roman military campaigns for so long that the public has built him up as some kind of superhumanbogeyman.
  • Mithridates and his wife Monime are characters inSteven Saylor's 2015 novelWrath of the Furies.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^McGing, Brian."Pontus, Encyclopædia Iranica".Encyclopædia Iranica.
  2. ^The spelling "Mithridates" was the Roman Latin version, but "Mithradates", the spelling used in Greek inscriptions and Mithridates' own coins, is regaining precedence, see e.g. Oxford Classical Dictionary, 3d ed.
  3. ^"Mithradates VI Eupator",Encyclopædia Britannica
  4. ^Hewsen, Robert H. (2009). "Armenians on the Black Sea: The Province of Trebizond". In Richard G. Hovannisian (ed.).Armenian Pontus: The Trebizond-Black Sea Communities.Costa Mesa, CA: Mazda Publishers, Inc. pp. 41, 37–66.ISBN978-1-56859-155-1.
  5. ^Mayor 2009,p. 1.
  6. ^Schmitt 2005.
  7. ^"Eupator Meaning - Bible Definition and References".
  8. ^electricpulp."MITHRADATES VI – Encyclopaedia Iranica".Archived fromthe originalon 17 May 2013.
  9. ^Jakob Munk Højte."The Death and Burial of Moithdrades VI".Archived fromthe originalon 3 March 2016.Retrieved4 November2010.
  10. ^Mayor, p. 68
  11. ^Mayor, p. 69
  12. ^abcdefghiSimpson, Roger Henry."Mithradates VI Eupator".Encyclopædia Britannica Online.Retrieved26 June2018.
  13. ^abMayor, p. 394
  14. ^Mayor, p. 100
  15. ^Getzel,Hellenistic settlements in Europe, the islands, and Asia Minorp.387
  16. ^Jakob Munk Højte, "From Kingdom to Province: Reshaping Pontos after the Fall of Mithridates VI", in Tønnes Bekker-Nielsen (ed.),Rome and the Black Sea Region: Domination, Romanisation, Resistance(Aarhus University Press, 2006), 15–30.
  17. ^abMayor
  18. ^McGing, p. 11
  19. ^Kurdoghlian, Mihran (1994).Badmoutioun Hayots, Volume I(in Armenian). Athens, Greece: Hradaragoutioun Azkayin Oussoumnagan Khorhourti. pp. 67–76.
  20. ^A History of Rome, LeGlay, et al. 100
  21. ^"Appianus, XVI, §111".Archived fromthe originalon 2 April 2015.Retrieved10 March2023.
  22. ^"Cassius Dio — Book 37".penelope.uchicago.edu.Retrieved10 March2023.
  23. ^Hojte, Jakob Munk."The Death and Burial of Mithridates VI".Archived fromthe originalon 3 March 2016.Retrieved3 February2015.
  24. ^McGing, p. 64
  25. ^McGing, p. 90
  26. ^McGing, pp. 91–92
  27. ^McGing, pp. 93–102
  28. ^McGing, pp. 125–126
  29. ^abMayor (2014),p. 28.
  30. ^McGing, p. 43
  31. ^Totelin (2004),p. 3.
  32. ^Mayor, Adrienne (2003),Greek Fire, Poison Arrows, and Scorpion Bombs: Biological and Chemical Warfare in the Ancient World,New York: Overlook Duckworth, p. 148.
  33. ^Totelin (2004),p. 4.
  34. ^abcdefghNorton, Stata (April 2006),"The Pharmacology of Mithridatum",Molecular Interventions,vol. 6, pp. 60–66,doi:10.1124/mi.6.2.1,PMID16565467.
  35. ^abTotelin (2004),p. 5.
  36. ^abcPliny,Natural History,Ch. XXV, §§5–7.
  37. ^abcdeTotelin, Laurence M.V. (2004),"Mithridates' Antidote—A Pharmacological Ghost",Early Science and Medicine,vol. 9, Brill, p. 2,JSTOR4130095.
  38. ^abcMayor (2014),p. 24.
  39. ^Mayor (2014),p. 29.
  40. ^abMayor (2014),p. 32.
  41. ^Pliny,Natural History,Ch. XXIII, §77.
  42. ^Mayor (2014),p. 33.
  43. ^Scribonius,Compositiones,§170.
  44. ^Celsus,De Medicina,Vol. V, §23.3.
  45. ^Galen,De Antidotis,Vol. II, Ch. 1
  46. ^Totelin (2004),pp. 7–8.
  47. ^Totelin (2004),p. 9.
  48. ^abcdMayor, Adrienne (2014), "Mithridates of Pontus and His Universal Antidote",History of Toxicology and Environmental Health: Toxicology in Antiquity,vol. I,Waltham:Academic Press, p. 30,ISBN9780128004630.
  49. ^abcdefgMayor (2014),p. 31.
  50. ^abTotelin (2004),p. 10.
  51. ^Mayor (2014),p. 27.
  52. ^Totelin (2004),p. 14.
  53. ^Bald's Leechbook.
  54. ^abcGriffin, John Parry (September 2004), "Venetian Treacle and the Foundation of Medicines Regulation",British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology,vol. 58, pp. 317–325,doi:10.1111/j.1365-2125.2004.02147.x,PMC1884566,PMID15327592.
  55. ^Pliny,Natural History,Ch. XXIX, §8.
  56. ^Totelin (2004),p. 16.
  57. ^"Mithridates, who was king of twenty-two nations, administered their laws in as many languages, and could harangue each of them, without employing an interpreter:" Pliny the Elder,Natural History,VII, 24.
  58. ^Johann Christoph Adelung&Johann Severin Vater,Mithridates, oder allgemeine Sprachenkunde mit dem Vater Unser als Sprachprobe in bey nahe fünf hundert Sprachen und Mundarten,Mithridites was also fluent in the ancient language of the Persians and would practice it on any Persian prisoners he had not yet killed or tortured.1806–1817, Berlin, Vossische Buchlandlung, 4 volumes. Facsimile edition, Hildesheim-Nueva York,Georg Olms Verlag,1970.
  59. ^Plutarch (1917)."Lives. Pompey".Digital Loeb Classical Library.v. 45.doi:10.4159/dlcl.plutarch-lives_pompey.1917.Retrieved14 April2024.
  60. ^"Berenice IV".tyndalehouse.Retrieved10 March2023.
  61. ^Strabo17.1.11
  62. ^Mayor, p. 114
  63. ^Ribó, Ignasi (5 October 2010)."Mitrídates ha muerto"(in Spanish). Editorial Bubok.Retrieved3 February2024.
Library resourcesabout
Mithridates VI of Pontus

Sources[edit]

Further reading[edit]

  • Duggan, Alfred,He Died Old: Mithradates Eupator, King of Pontus,1958.
  • Ford, Michael Curtis,The Last King: Rome's Greatest Enemy,New York, Thomas Dunne Books, 2004,ISBN0-312-27539-0
  • McGing, B. C.The Foreign Policy of Mithridates VI Eupator, King of Pontus(Mnemosyne,Supplements: 89), Leiden, Brill Academic Publishers, 1986,ISBN90-04-07591-7[paperback]
  • Cohen, Getzel M.,Hellenistic Settlements in Europe, the Islands and Asia Minor(Berkeley, 1995).
  • Ballesteros Pastor, Luis.Mitrídates Eupátor, rey del Ponto.Granada: Servicio de Publicaciones de la Universidad de Granada, 1996,ISBN84-338-2213-6.
  • Ribó, Ignasi,Mitrídates ha muerto,Madrid, Bubok, 2010,ISBN978-84-9981-114-7
  • Mayor, Adrienne,The Poison King: The Life and Legend of Mithradates, Rome's Deadliest Enemy(Princeton, PUP, 2009).
  • Madsen, Jesper Majbom, Mithradates VI: Rome's perfect enemy. In:Proceedings of the Danish Institute in AthensVol. 6, 2010, pp. 223–237.
  • Ballesteros Pastor, Luis,Pompeyo Trogo, Justino y Mitrídates. Comentario alEpítome de las Historias Filípicas(37,1,6–38,8,1)(Spudasmata154), Hildesheim-Zürich-New York, Georg Olms Verlag, 2013,ISBN978-3-487-15070-3.

External links[edit]

Preceded by King of Pontus
120–63 BC 		Succeeded by
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